A Momo Response OneShot
by starfairy14s
Summary: My Response to Chapter 488. A Hypothetical 'Should-Happen' scene/chapter. NaruHina Inside.


Momo - Motion City Soundtrack is good for the soul. =w= 333 (if you like them the same way I do, that is. ^_^;;; )

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A Momo Response One-Shot: 'Hold Me Down' (or 'The Chapter That Should Happen' )

Black soles scraped across the concrete floor, his stride heavy and slow.

Naruto appeared to be walking through snow the way he was inching towards his apartment. A part of him however, definitely still resided in Snow Country.

He promised he would kill Sasuke.

He promised he would martyr himself right along with.

The atmosphere changed, a sense of comfort and wholeness removing his isolation.

Naruto's nostrils tickled with the subtle scent of flowers signalling to him the prescence of a familiar female.

And as usual he nearly passed by her.

"Would you hate me?" She asked in an uneasy breath, her eyes peering up at him timidly. That tear-thick, troubling, struggling ache in her voice trickled down his spine hot like an inflammation of nerves. His shoulder and forearm muscles repeatedly tightened and relaxed, as the memories of her costly heroics clouded his eyes. Adrenaline shot through his veins. He was overcome with stress, his heart jumping between his flight or fight instincts.

Naruto shut his eyes and clenched his hands in his pockets.

Hinata became concerned when he had lost some color, his face appearing feverish from flushing.

"D--- W-Why does my prescence cause you pain now?" Hinata found this interesting and troubling, considering he had been so acting so cool hours ago. She knew of his facade, the one he held as a child ot obscure his insecurities.

But this had nothing to do with insecurities. He had no use for that mask anymore, he didn't have to try to impress people anymore. Thiis facade of his was for something entirely else.

Naruto worked to force down these emotions that were choking him. He didn't understand why the mere breath of her had affected him so accutely. He had been thrown back to that place, forced to experience what he had thought was her death.

Perhaps the stress of that moment was finally working its way out. He had shoved it back to the farthest reaches of his subconscious when he had faced Nagato, when he had heard of Sasuke's arrival, when he had been in Snow Country, when Sakura had lied to him, when everyone had decided that they would kill Sasuke, that even Sakura was going to kill Sasuke, when he had passed out... He hadn't thought about Hinata at all, he hadn't the time until now... And now it was almost crippling. He had repressed for so long that it became unbearable to deal with.

"I'm alright..." He heaved with a shallow breath, blatantly distracted by his inner turmoil to make a convincing answer.

"Yeah, right," Hinata sighed, exasperated that he was still feigning. He began to work to control his racing blood through taking deep breaths and letting them go. Sure enough, each exhale took away an image, relieving him of their weight. But he still looked uncomfortable. "D-Do you need to lie down?" She asked, realizing that she had kept him from getting home.

Naruto thought about this. Hinata was here because she needed to speak with him. If he agreed to go home and lay down, that might end the conversation. And knowing Hinata, she might never have the nerve again to talk with him in private. And knowing that Tsunade had awaken, there might not be any time for talk tomorrow.

Naruto considered letting Hinata into his apartment so they could talk, but then he wondered how comfortable she would be with that. He wondered how comfortable _he_ would be with that.

He rubbed his neck.

_'Alone in a room with a girl who just professed her love to me...'_ Naruto's face took on a new color.

HInata couldn't help but blush a little too, though she had no idea why Naruto was.

"I don't need to go inside yet." He answered stubbornly and somewhat flustered. He wanted to respect Hinata's coming to him, even though he had been more prepared to pass out with his face in a cotton case of down feathers.

"If that's what you're comfortable with..." HInata said, her eyes to the right, looking somewhat disappointed as she fiddled with the edges of her sleeves. She felt stupid now for even showing up, she thought she didn't care if he was exhausted because she had been so fired up to confront him about earlier. But now she felt awful. She wanted him to be comfortable, to rest up and everything... She completely lost her fire to confront him. She had no right to keep him from going home.

Naruto grew disconcerted with her silence and the amiguously wistful expression on her face. He knew she wanted to talk, she had come here by herself on her own accord. It was a rareity created out of the phenomenom known as exception. It was a special circumstance and for once Naruto was taking the time to be patient for her, to finally listen to her. Before he would turn his attention away when she talked too slow or too quietly.

Now she wasn't saying anything at all.

"Hinata-chan... I'm listening." He tried to reassure her.

"I-I'm sorry..." She uttered, growing embarassed. "I-I've f-forgotten why I came here... A-All I remember w-was that I was up-s-set. I-I don't see why we can't be by your side... A-And I d-don't understand why y-you would hide from us..."

"It's just something I have to do."

"Th-That's awful---! Y-You forget that we care about you---"

"Really?" Naruto muttered, ridiculing the sentiment slightly. "Everyone was ready to kill Sasuke before I was. Everyone would have done it whether I stepped up or not. No one cared anymore that I wanted to save him. Hinata-chan, don't confuse your feelings as everyone else's."

Blood beated against her cheeks, embarassed and exposed by his last words. She closed her eyes, refusing to hide and curl into herself.

She struggled with the words that rested on her lips, fumbling profusely at first.

"Ah... Nnn... Um... A-Ah... n-no... N--- N-Naruto..." Hinata slapped at her cheeks, the sudden gesture tickling Naruto's ribcage. He nearly snorted. "N-Naruto... kun... D-Don't... ah, um... Wh-What d-do y-you think y-you are t-to us??" Hinata thought she would cry with embarassment. She had never stuttered this badly before, not even when she was younger.

Naruto repressed the urge to tease her, and dropped the slight smile that stretched his lips so gently.

"Um... I'm the savior of this village... for defeating Pein."

"A-And y-you're our friend. D-Don't you con-s-sider us y-your friends?"

"Yes."

"So why hide secrets from us? I-It feels l-like... y-you've forgotten we're your f-family... as if nothing else matters anymore but your sacrifice..."

Sacrifice. The word sunk in deep.

"I have to be the only one to fight him."

"W-We don't have to listen to you---!"

Naruto's eyes snapped up to hers.

"Hinata-chan..."

"How do you expect us t-to respect your decision when you can't be honest with us?? Y-You kn-know h-how much that hurts...?" Her hands flew to catch the rush of renegade tears. He could tell that she wanted to cry aloud, but her composure was strong. "I-I'm sorry, Naruto-kun... but I can never go back to the kitchen, n-not after Pein."

Naruto stared at her quizzically with his mouth slightly agape. _'Kitchen? What the hell?'_

Hinata felt his scrutiny and met him with a vague expression, her earlier embarassment resurfacing timidly.

"W-Well that's what it f-feels like... L-Like I-I'm s-suppose to make you a sandwich or something... m-maybe tonkatsu..."

"_What???_"

"N-Not that I would mind..." She mumbled incoherently to herself, her mouth now hiding behind her sleeve.

Naruto scratched furiously at his scalp. It was moments like this with Hinata that he was sure his confusion wasn't his fault.

"So much for honesty," He chuckled ironically, "I wish you wouldn't keep things to yourself when you're trying to tell me something."

"I don't think you'd understand." She mumbled back, forcing him to sigh in exasperation. "Naruto-kun?"

"Yes?" He sighed. He was still trying to figure out what the kitchen and sandwich meant in all this.

"Would you hate me?"

"For what?"

"For refusing to let you die alone."

His hand drifted off his neck, his thoughts swirling around a possible answer. _'We share the same Nindo... and I've made her every bit of stubborn as I am... I understand her need, but... I don't like it. I don't want to risk more sacrifice...'_

A warm, creamy smell flooded his nostrils. Yet it was heady and sweet. There was a sharpness to it now, brisk like mint or perhaps... more herbal and bitter like eucalyptus... it teased at his pleasure centers.

She stood before him now, her aura invading and calming him like her scent.

"I wish I could hold your hand..." She softly admitted, her voice barely a breath.

Was she telling this to him? Or was she talking to herself again? She was still nervous around him, yet she was comfortable. Comfortable enough to approach him, to confront him, to stand close to him...

Naruto glanced up at her. She was blushing and... looking at him straight in the face. There was a tenderness to her eyes, as if she were daydreaming, but there was conviction too. And he realized that she hadn't been talking to herself again. She had openly told him her innocent desire.

She had changed so much.

Naruto held out his right hand before her, offering to grant her childlike wish, though a part of him wanted this too.

Human contact. The touch of a female. The touch of a friend.

The slight blush on his face did not match the stubborn frown on his lips and Hinata wasn't sure if she wanted to laugh or go into shock.

_'Was it really that easy?'_ She wondered as she began to softly laugh.

Her fingertip grazed cool against his sweltering palm. She grasped his hand in gentle fingers, then she brought her other hand to caress the back. She traced the shapes of his veins, the flow of his blood. She mapped out where his pressure points were, and eased the muscles.

Her heart skipped a beat every time a muscle reacted to her touch, and every time her smile grew wider.

She was glowing. Just from holding his hand.

Naruto felt regret for her. This was the closest they'd ever been. Despite all the training and missions, the attacks... Despite never knowing her or never considering her a friend until the Chuunin Exams... He had the time. He had the time and he never made it.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For never spending more time with you." He grimaced. This whole time she had cared so much for him... he never got to exploit the potential of their relationship. And now...

"I don't expect you to answer me, Naruto-kun." She replied back kindly, smiling. She knew they had other priorities right now. Nothing could be done about it except... to enjoy what little time they had with eachother.

Naruto hung his head and nodded weakly.

He didn't want to whine anymore. He didn't want to run from reality anymore in favor of lofty ideals. Reality was painful, but he wanted to face it honestly from now on.

"I wouldn't hate you." He told her, still enjoying the coolness of her hands. _'But you might hate me...'_

_"This may sound bad, and don't take it the wrong way..._  
_I love you, however, _  
_You hold me down _  
_You hold me down _

___You hold me down _

___You hold me down _

_You're the echoes of my everything,_  
_You're the emptiness the whole world sings at night._  
_You're the laziness of afternoon,_  
_You're the reason why I burst and why I bloom._  
_How will I break the news to you?_

_We'll talk it over after I've had some time alone to sort it out. _  
_You hold me down_

_You're the echoes of my everything,  
You're the emptiness the whole world sings at night.  
You're the laziness of afternoon,  
You're the reason why I burst and why I bloom.  
You're the leaky sink of sentiment,  
You're the failed attempts I never could forget.  
You're the metaphors I can't create to comprehend this curse that I call love..  
_

_How will I break the news to you?"_

_- Motion City Soundtrack "Hold Me Down"_

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Momo - Lyrics are mixed up on purpose by the way (relevance issues and all that) END OF HYPOTHETICAL CHAPTER/SCENE!!!! MWAHAHAHA!!! XDDDDD I rule you and your cookies! Omnomnomnomnom


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